Two Frozen Hearts
by Insane Fangirl 4
Summary: Toshiro is sent to the world of the living due to a unusual hollow activity, he meets a girl that could be the reason behind it all, but what is her secret? and will it tear them apart before they come together? rated for swearing toshixoc
1. Love at first hit

**a/n: bleach = not mine = sad me :(**

**love story between toshiro and an OC (my friend zoe who is madly in love with him)**

**few twists and turns planned - enjoy everyone!**

**PLEASE REVIEW!**

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><p><span>Love at first…hit?<span>

Toshiro Hitsugaya was looking around the park, the cool summer's breeze flowing through his white hair. He closed his eyes and tilted his head upwards enjoying the peace. He had been asked to guard the world of the living, specifically a village, as there had been an unusually high number of hollow attacks in the area. He hadn't figured out why yet but for the moment he was simply enjoying the silence. Until he felt someone tap him on the shoulder. He froze, he was in his shinigami form, how could someone see him?

"Hey!" he heard a female voice shout, as he turned around to look at a girl looking at him strangely. She had flowing black hair, stunning brown eyes which were highlighted by blue eyeliner. She was wearing a short black skirt, and a ruffled purple top.

'Wow she's really pretty' he thought to himself but quickly snapped out of it as he asked her somewhat coldly "what do you want?"

"I was wondering why you're such a freak" she smiled at him, when he looked puzzled she shook her head exasperated "I mean why are you wearing robes in the summer, actually why are you wearing robes at all? Are you some kind of weird cosplayer? I haven't seen you around here before and this is a pretty small village" she chattered away happily not noticing he was getting pissed.

"Hey! I am not a freak! Or a cosplayer! Besides you shouldn't be able to see me!" he shouted at her which pissed her off.

"Hey I just asked you a question! Stop being a bitch!" she kicked him in the shin.

"Arrgh!" he yelled and hopped up and down on the spot holding his leg. "Why did you do that?"

"You were being mean! And what's that supposed to mean 'you shouldn't be able to see me?' are you supposed to be freaking invisible or something?" she glared at him. He sighed with resignation, he was going to have to tell her otherwise she would most likely cause trouble.

"Sit down and I'll explain" he sighed as he sat down on the grass. Cautiously she sat down beside him. He explained everything, he told her about the soul society, soul reapers and hollows and why he was here. After he had finished she was incredulous and stared at him causing him to blush and look away.

"Yeah and I'm a pirate with super powers coos I ate magic fruit" she said sarcastically and punched him in the arm.

"Ouch! That hurt! Besides its true" he explained.

"Oh yeah? Prove it then" she smirked at him. He sighed and decided the easiest way for her to believe him was to demonstrate his power.

"Hado #4 Byakurai!" he shouted as he fired a large shot of lightning at a tree completely destroying it. 'She's probably going to be shocked for a while' he thought.

"Holy crap! That was freaking awesome! You have actual superpowers cool!" she squealed as he looked at her utterly bemused. She was unique alright, suddenly something clicked, she could see him which indicated that she had very high spiritual pressure. He looked at her smiling face looking up at the sky 'could this girl be the reason for so many hollow attacks?' he thought ' I have to protect her then, no matter what' he blushed a little.

"My name's Zoe by the way nice to meet you" she stuck out her hand and he shook it trying to hide his blush.

"Toshiro Hitsugaya captain of Squad 10" he said as he held her hand. They both looked at each other a little longer than normal and as they let go and looked away both their cheeks were a light pink.

"Well Toshiro I have to get going now but you wanna meet up tomorrow and I dunno do something?" she asked him nervously as he stood up quickly.

"Where do you live? I need to protect you" he said causing her to blush.

"Eh what? What do you mean protect me? I'm pretty strong I can take care of myself" she smiled at him as he realised he hadn't explained why he needed to protect her.

"The hollow's are after you because of your high spiritual energy" he explained.

"Hollow's you mean those soul eating monster?" she looked slightly afraid but tried to cover it up. 'Shit I scared her' he thought 'I'm such an idiot' he looked at the beautiful girl standing before him and held both her hand in his and stared deeply into her eyes.

"Don't worry I won't let them get anywhere near you I promise I'll do whatever it take to keep you safe, I'll protect you with my life" he told her as her eyes widened and she stared deeply into his eyes blushing.

"Thank you…" she whispered. He let go of her hands as she led him to her house they walked in silence and when they finally got there, she opened the door for him causing the shinigami to look at her baffled.

"What?" he asked.

"Well don't you need a place to stay? I have an extra room…" she trailed off embarrassed.

"But what about your parents?" he asked.

"My parents work overseas so they're not home all that often, right now they're gonna be away for a few months…" she trailed off looking away. With a sigh he let her lead the way in and show him his room.

"Thanks for the room" he told her.

"No problem, dinner's in the fridge if you want some, I already ate so I'm just gonna go to sleep, night" she smiled at him.

"Goodnight" he thanked her again. That night neither of them slept very well. Toshiro was sitting on the bed looking out at the moon wondering how he was supposed to stay here without letting his feelings get the better of him.

Meanwhile Zoë was lying in bed looking up at the ceiling, she couldn't sleep, how was she supposed to sleep when there was a hot super powered guy in the same house as her? She blushed and turned on her side, closing her eyes trying to sleep.

Unbeknownst to both of them a large group of hollow's had been gathered by an Adjuchas and were plotting something that could turn this love story into a tragic one.

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><p><strong>do you guys like so far PLEEEEASE REVIEW! :D thnx<strong>

**zoe: write more lazy!**

**me: i have anither one on the go as well :(**

**zoe: i dont care! toshi love!**

**me: :( *working fingers to the bone***


	2. School?

**a/n: bleah still isn't mine otherwise there would be soo much ichiruki goodness!**

**second chapter enjoy ya'll :D**

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><p><span>School?<span>

The sun was shining and the birds were chirping (I know it's redundant but meh...) Zoe was in the kitchen having breakfast thoughtfully going over the recent events that had transpired. Toshiro Hitsugaya was going over his plan of action as she opened the door to his room and walked in "Hey Toshi…" she started but froze blushing madly as she saw he had been changing.

"Hey don't you knock?" he snapped also blushing as she stared at his shirtless chest, muscles rippling on his arms, rock hard abs, she snapped out of it as he pulled a shirt on and quickly wiped the drool from her mouth.

"Erm…I'm going to school so I'll see you later ok?" she smiled at him but then realised that he was wearing a school uniform as well, "Erm what are you…" she questioned him.

"I have to protect you so I'm going to school with you" he replied matter of factly which confused her more.

"I thought people couldn't see you?" she asked and grew impressed as he explained about gigai. "So people will be able to see you and I won't look like a crazy person talking to myself? Cool" she smiled and left the room shouting behind her "Hurry or we'll be late!" he sighed and followed her.

"Class please welcome Toshiro Hitsugaya to our school" the teacher introduced him to the rest of the class and Zoe grumbled angrily as a few girls giggled looking at him appreciatively. However this soon turned into a smug smile directed at those girls as he sat down beside her and smiled at her.

"Hey do you wanna eat lunch with us Toshiro?" a few girls had come up to him and Zoë trying to pry him away from her, batting they're eyelashes and smiling sweetly. Toshiro however was completely unfazed and acted in his usual cold manner. (No pun intended)

"No thanks I'm fine here can you guys leave us alone?" he stated to the shocked girls, as they left grumbling and upset. He turned around to Zoë who was smiling even wider now and asked "What about your friends?"

"Huh oh I don't have any, I mean I moved here recently and haven't made friends yet to be honest I don't really want to, I'm getting out of this shithole as fast as I can" she told him.

"Shithole?" he looked at her bemused "I thought it was a pretty nice place to live?"

"It's alright but it's boring" she smiled at him.

As they walked home from school they stopped at a café and grabbed something to eat, they laughed and talked about all sorts of things. They were having a lot of fun and even though she kept calling him 'Toshi' affectionately he didn't mind.

She felt like they were on a date which made her blush, they were strolling along a riverbank as she thought this and wished he would hurry up and hold her hand 'wait no what am I thinking stop being an idiot Zoë' she inwardly scolded herself.

As Toshiro looked at her they both heard a large roaring and both swivelled to face a huge hollow. It looked like a triceratops with two legs and a double-ended tail. It swung its tail downwards ferociously, Toshiro grabbed Zoe and flew out of the way. He set her down on away from the hollow's range of attack and said,

"Stay here ok?" as he pulled out soul candy and swallowed it.

"Wha…?" she looked as he jumped out of his body and reappeared in his robes, drawing his sword flying toward the hollow. With one swift swing he cut the hollow in two and it disappeared. She looked up at him in amazement as he sheathed his sword and made his way back to her. "That was amazing you totally kicked that things ass!" she smiled at him.

"Yeah whatever lets go," he told her as he started to get back into his gigai but stopped as he felt a familiar spiritual pressure behind him. Zoe was staring behind him eyes wide with fear as she grabbed his arm, he turned around and saw 6 different hollows similar to the last one gather around them.

"Oh my god.." she whispered and held on tighter, he placed his hand on hers causing her to look into his eyes, he nodded his head as she let go and stepped back understanding what he wanted her to do.

He walked forwards and faced the hollow's, drawing his sword he calmly said "Bankai! Daiguren Hyourin-maru!" suddenly he resembled a large ice dragon and as he charged toward the hollows Zoe looked on in amazement as he took them down with ease. 'These hollow's aren't that strong so were's that immense spiritual power I sensed' he wondered to himself but just as he thought this he heard a scream behind him.

"Toshiro!" Zoe had been captured by a menos! He quickly finished of the last hollow and charged toward her. The menos was an Adjuchas with the appearance of a large turtle with several limbs.

"Not very smart are you soul reaper?" the hollow sneered at him and threw Zoe with exceptional force.

"No!" he shouted but a Gillian had caught her, he looked around and saw that several of them had appeared, and all were under the Adjuchas control "Damn!" he shouted and gripped his sword tighter as prepared to fight the hollow 'if I can kill him the Gillian will disappear' he decided and looked at Zoe who was unconscious. Remembering the promise he made to her he charged at the enemy.

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><p><strong>ooooh suspense next chapter coming soon :D<strong>

**as always people the little button that says review? if you dont click it and write something i'll come and eat you! o_O**

**REVIEWS PLEEEEASE!**


	3. Desperation

**a/n: bleach isn't mine blah, blah, blah**

**sorry for the wait guys i took a day off :P**

**lol warning this is majorly a fight scene but i added romance at the end as well as some mystery :D**

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><p><span>Desperation<span>

Toshiro Hitsugaya was panting, sweat dripping down his face and off his chin, he gripped his sword tightly in his right hand wincing as blood trickled down his left arm. He had taken down ten Gillian but there were too many and they had caught him off-guard, a large gash on his arm, the wound stinging as the air whistled past it.

He was staring at the Adjuchas who was sneering at him as more and more Gillian appeared. "Is that all you've got soul reaper?" his demonic voice rang out towards him. He glanced down at the side of the riverbank. After he managed to save Zoë from one of the Gillian he had set her down by the riverbank, she was unconscious, no doubt from the force of impact when she had been thrown through mid-air.

The memory made him growl in anger, he hadn't been fast enough to catch her as she was thrown like a ragdoll between the hollows. He had been trying to hit the Adjuchas, if he could take down the leader the others wouldn't be a problem but their interference was making it hard to get near him.

"Die hollow!" he screamed as he launched himself at the leader but was intercepted yet again by another 3 hollows. He decided in desperation to use as much spirit energy as he could for one do or die attempt.

"Rain over the frosted heavens! Hyourinmaru!" he screamed cutting through the three foot soldiers and flying straight at the leader whose eyes widened as he saw the captain slash his sword through the air.

"Aaaargh!" the hollow screamed as the captain froze his arm and it scattered to pieces. As he went to aim another blow the hollow shot a cero at him, which he dodged just in time, but as he moved to attack again realisation dawned on him.

The leader had distracted him in order to escape and was now retreating through the rift, his soldiers falling in step behind him.

"We will meet again Soul Reaper" he snarled at him.

"Coward" Toshiro spat at him. However he quickly switched his attention to Zoë. She was lying on the sidewalk he couldn't help but feel responsible as he picked her up and walked off in the direction of her house.

"Mmmnyah?" Zoë woke up groggily feeling her head heavy with bandages. The last thing she remembered was being thrown and Toshiro drawing his sword. With a jolt she sat up "Toshiro!" she winced as the pain in her head sharpened. She was about to get up when,

"What are you doing?" Toshiro pushed her back down and ordered her to lie down. "You got hit pretty badly stay still and rest" he looked at her concernedly. She saw there were bags under his eyes, and as she looked at the clock she saw it was almost 3am.

"Did you stay up all night to take care of me?" she looked at him eyes wide.

"You don't need to sound so surprised" he snapped at her and sighed sitting down on the side of her bed. "It was my fault, I promised to protect you but you still got hurt" he looked down at the floor wishing he would just melt into it.

He hated being emotional and he hated that she had made him so emotional. It wasn't normal in his mind, or rather it wasn't comfortable and he didn't like it. He was confused, and pissed off and worried. His mind was like a hornets' nest that had been stirred up.

"It wasn't your fault" Zoë smiled at him, putting her hand on his shoulder, pulling him out of his mind. He looked into her eyes as she continued, "I mean it's not like you knew they were gonna be here and I was the one that was dumb enough to get captured, lighten up" she laughed and slapped him on the back.

He smiled at her and got up "Get some sleep" he patted her shoulder and left the room. She lay down and sighed wondering why guys were so dumb. Especially Toshiro blaming himself for everything, it was kinda cute though how he had saved her and taken care of her.

"My hero" she laughed at herself. Then she realised what she was doing and stopped suddenly. Sighing, she closed her eyes, trying to sleep. I can't fall for him….I'll just end up hurting the both of us…I wonder how long we'll be together until my secret comes out.

A secret that prevents friendship or love. Something desperate and dark that even the shadows it hides in are affected. Could they be torn apart before they come together, or will desperation destroy everything beyond recognition.

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><p><strong>lol i bet you guys wanna know her secret :D<strong>

**keep reading and please review! even if you dont have an account i still want your review!**

**guys if i update a lil late please forgive me i'm trying to finish my other story but i promise i won't make you wait more than two days! i promise!**

**luv you guys :D thnx for reading :D**


	4. The Soul Society

**a/n: guys i am so so sooo sorry i took so long to update, its just i had minor writers block, i know exactly what i want to do with the story but i just couldn't turn it out the way i wanted and i only have one review which mad it harder cause i didn't know if people wanted to read it or not :S this is why i really need you guys to review so i can push through and update for you guys... well here you go i'm still unsure how it turned out but if you like it can you please tell me? please please guys it would really help :D**

**as always i dont own bleach or any reviews save one, this is for you toshilover! thnx for the review *gives cookie and a double chapter update***

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><p><span>The Soul Society<span>

Zoe was packing her things away. She was getting ready to leave behind her life in this small, boring village and go to someplace called the 'Soul Society'. Toshiro had said that he had discussed a course of action or whatever, and that in order to keep her safe they had to go to the soul society. This way innocent people wouldn't be hurt and also she would be safer. She didn't really care though as long as she got there.

"Zoë hurry up will you?" Toshiro snapped her out of her thoughts, "What are you thinking about? It's not like you to think so hard" he smirked at her. Unfortunately for him he still didn't understand that she was going to hit him _every _time he insulted her.

They travelled through the Senkaimon and, after much whining on Zoë's part, they reached the soul society. Waiting for them at the gate was Mayuri Kurotsuchi

"Well hello there little human girl, I am the Captain of the Research and Development squad Mayuri Kurotsuchi" he flashed his creepy smile, causing her to shudder.

"Hey freaky face paint dude, sorry your names a little too long to remember" she replied albeit slightly wary. Toshiro had started to wander towards the squad ten barrack expecting her to follow but she was cut off by Mayuri,

"My, my you _do _have such strange spiritual pressure I would love to experiment" he clasped his hands together in anticipation.

Zoe was well and truly freaked out by now, WTF written all over her face. Before Toshiro could intervene however he saw her pull back her leg. Then with all her force she aimed a crushing kick straight to his, ehm, crown jewels. Mayuri doubled over in pain clutching his….area as Zoë walked to the laughing captain.

"That was hilarious" he clutched his sides, he looked up at her and smiled. Before either could say anything Rangiku, who had seen everything, ran up and pulled her captain into a crushing hug and squealed in delight

"Oh captain congratulations! I knew you were coming back with a girl but I never thought you would have actually fallen for her! You two are so cute together" Toshiro turned a deep shade of red and pulled away rounding on his giggling lieutenant.

"I have not fallen for her, it is my duty to protect her and I will" he scolded her as she pouted and Zoë looked on amused. This place was different than she was expecting, it was…more fun than she thought it would be. She shook her head to rid herself of these thoughts, they threatened to shake her resolve.

LATER

"Hey guys I'm all ready to kick you're butts" Zoë smiled deviously at Rukia and Ichigo. They had been assigned to train her in basic combat just in case. She had already become fast friends with the two and had grown very fond of Rangiku as well.

"Alright Ichigo, go sit down I'm going first" Rukia pushed him out of the way.

"Hey why do you get to go first midget? I'm stronger I go first" Ichigo yelled at her earning a kick in the shin from Rukia,

"Shut up strawberry! I'm a better teacher than you so there! And don't call me midget!" she shouted back at him struggling as he held her head in place.

Zoe was rolling on the floor laughing in hysterics as the two proceeded to beat the crap out of each other.

"You guys are such a cute couple" she wiped a tear from her eye as they both froze, looking at her shocked and turning redder by the second.

"We're not a couple"

"Yeah exactly we're just friends"

"Just friends nothing else"

They shook their heads and explained desperately causing Zoë to roll her eyes,

"Yeah right and I'm the tooth fairy" she laughed and walked away, knowing they had things to talk about, she just helped push them in the right direction.

Toshiro wandered into the training room were Zoë was training with several other soul reapers, well I say training but she was actually owning them. Several were sitting in the corner looking on in fear as the small but mighty brunette kicked them into next week.

"Hey toshi wanna train with me? These bitches can't handle what I dish out" she smiled deviously. He just sighed and shook his head,

"Actually I came here to get you we have a meeting with the captain of squad six, Byakuya Kuchiki" she shrugged and went to hand the wooden sword back, causing the man to flinch in terror. Toshiro looked on amused, who would have thought someone as small as her could be so scary.

Zoe was cleaning up thinking that they had been so surprised that she was that strong. They had no idea what she was really capable of though, she didn't need basic training, but then again if she revealed her power the game was up. Patience….it had never been her strong point but for this to work she had to wait.

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><p><strong>well? what did you guys think like it? want <strong>

**me to write more? i might not if i don't get any more reviews, i'm startin to think that no-one is actually interested in my story :(**

**(i know its dicky to hold the story hostage when i have 18 more wonderful chapter planned but i really need reviews)**


	5. Crimson

**a/n: blah, blah, blah bleach still isnt mine enjoy guys :D**

**i really really appreciate reviews cause this is my first attempt at something serious and i want to know if it went well thnx guys ;)**

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><p><span>Crimson<span>

Darkness. That was all there was. A single figure stirred, in pain, both mental and physical. Emotional turmoil, that word was not enough to describe what was going through the persons mind. Normal pain was different altogether than the pain that had been inflicted on the solitary figure.

Painful, dark emotions running rampant till the mind grew weary of them and locked itself away and became absent. An absent mind, one that thought of nothing, one that acknowledged nothing. It was safer to retreat in that situation than endlessly lament over the pain, otherwise it could turn inside and turn you insane. Pit your mind against itself and drive you to the plain of despair.

The pain was somewhat akin to having the flesh torn off their body, heart ripped out, torn in two. The body felt like it had been put on fire, burning from the outside in. Other times it was more like every part had been frozen, the blood no longer flowing through the veins, the heart beat pathetic. The body felt extreme pain but was numb to everything.

The pain, both mental and physical, gained no reaction from the unfortunate body. The soul empty, the heart beating out of necessity not desire. An empty motionless shell laying on the floor in the darkness.

The darkness drawing the victim into an endless abyss of cold dead existence. In such darkness the person ached light, a light that could not and would never be found. The light didn't exist it seemed to them. They began to believe that light didn't even exist.

Crimson, a colour that seemed wondrous to the person. But they could never attain something so beautiful, so bright. The only way it would become theirs was through theft. Their fate was too disagreeable to gift them a reprieve from their darkness, so they would have to take it for themselves.

The only way to steal the crimson light, was to commit sin. They were too far gone to care about sin. They had become disillusioned from the world and felt that no matter what sins would occur. If the sin they committed brought them light then why not do it?

Murder. The sin that was committed time and time again, in an effort to obtain light, colour, and meaning. Crimson blood spilling freely bathing their world in light. Over and over till they had lost themselves in evil and it became not a part of them but who they were. Their true self lost forever, would they be saved or was evil all that remained in the shell.

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><p><strong>confused yet? i bet you are this is an important set up it will make sense as the story goes on ;D<strong>

**please, please, please, please, please, please REVIEW guys! it takes you longer to read than to reviewwww ;D **


	6. Byakuya and Toshiro

**a/n: here you guys go hope you enjoy :D**

**lots and lots of thanks to toshilover you're support got me through my writers block ;D**

**thnx to all of my reviewers and sorry for holding the story hostage i didn't know people actually wanted more! you guys rule ;D**

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><p><span>Byakuya and Toshiro<span>

Toshiro and Zoë were walking to the squad 6 barracks. They had a meeting with the captain because according to Toshiro, he used to be in charge of the village before he was assigned to it. She was looking forward to meeting him, she was curious as to how intelligent he was.

Byakuya Kuchiki was waiting in his office for his two visitors, his lieutenant Renji Abarai was sullenly completing paperwork. The captain would have asked what was bothering the red-head were it not for that fact that he really didn't care.

Renji had been depressed as of late and wanted someone to talk to, but his captain wasn't responding to the hints. 'I'll give it one more go' he thought to himself and sighed extra loudly, ensuring that the noble-man heard. No response. He sighed again, and again and again. Unbeknownst to the lieutenant his captain was getting pretty pissed off, and everyone knows not to piss of Byakuya Kuchiki. (Especially Ichigo)

"Captain Kuchiki" Toshiro rang out distracting Byakuya, who was about to unsheathe his sword and kill Renji, the small captain walked into the room. "This is Zoë, the human I was telling you about" he introduced her as she openly gaped at the taller captain.

She was the same size as Hisana Byakuya mused absentmindedly to himself. He put his hand forward and introduced himself, ignoring the drool coming from her mouth. "I am Captain Byakuya Kuchiki, captain of squad six of…." He was cut off by Zoë,

"Yeah yeah thirteen court guard squads and all that jazz, hey will you take off your shirt?" she looked on hopefully "ow that was mean toshi" she pouted as he hit her on the back of the head, eye twitching.

"Talk more respectfully, didn't I tell you he's a nobleman?" Byakuya was stoic (as usual) but had slightly blushed at her suggestion for some reason.

"Just cause he's a nobleman doesn't mean he isn't smexy" she smiled mischievously at him. Both captains went red, unsure of what to say, Renji just looked at her as if she had three heads. He couldn't believe she had the guts to say that to _the _Byakuya Kuchiki, the one man even Ichigo was afraid off.

Both captains started to discuss the village, the hollow attacks and Zoë's involvement. Byakuya seemed very surprised when Toshiro had told him about the Adjuchas and the Gillian. Clearly the problem was serious, but this didn't stop Zoë from getting bored out of her mind.

"I'm booooored!" she told the captains, for the tenth time, they glared at her. Since they were not getting any work done with her moaning, and Renji's sighing Byakuya decided to get rid of them both.

"Renji why don't you take our guest and give her a tour" he wasn't really asking though, Renji got up while Zoë was pouting,

"Oh are you getting rid of me? No fair toshiii do something" she wanted to stat ad listen to their plan, obviously she had been playing way too dumb. The white haired captain shook his head exasperatedly and smiled at her,

"This is your chance to see what the soul society looks like, go on have some fun, it'll take your mind off things" he waved her away. She sulked off with a sad Renji in tow.

OUTSIDE

Renji half heatedly gave her a vague tour. This only managed to piss Zoë off and she let Renji know by yelling at him

"Hey I didn't want to leave two hot guys and come with a red-headed tattoo enthusiast whose hair resembles a pineapple, for a crappy tour but I'm here and I dealt with it so you need to deal with it as well before I kick you in the nuts!" Renji looked at her, face contorted. Suddenly, without warning he sat down, head in his hand and started to cry. Yep I said _cry._

"What does he have that I don't? I've known her longer! It's not fair It's not fair!" he sobbed, Zoë was standing completely shocked, she didn't think he was _this _much of a pussy.

"Eh hey calm down I'm sorry I yelled what's eh what's wrong?"

"Rukia..." he sobbed "She's dating Ichigo"

"And you had a crush on her?"

"Uh huh" he nodded, sighing she punched him in the back. "OW what the hell?" she looked at him like he was an idiot

"Don't you understand? They're probably in love with each other, you just have a crush, got that? A _crush _you'll get over it and then fall for someone else" Zoë explained slowly and clearly since she regarded him as a complete dumbass.

"Oh…"

INSIDE SQUAD 6 BARRAKS

"If an Adjuchas is involved then do you think it's safe to assume someone is controlling them? They have never been known to operate on their own, last time it was Aizens doing, who knows who it is this time and what it is they want" Byakuya looked up concernedly at his fellow captain. They had been discussing the source rather than a course of action because it was better to know your enemy than have a vague battle plan.

"Yes what I'm more concerned about is if someone is controlling them then that means its more than likely that we'll come across some Arrancar, whether or not they are as powerful as the former espada we can't know, but I can't shake the feeling that Zoë is in the middle of all of this" he looked at the taller one questioningly

"yes I also feel that she is what they're after whoever _they _are, we need to keep her extremely safe, I suggest she stay at my home it is very well guarded and hospitable enough for a guest" he finished.

"yeah…I guess that's the best way to keep her safe" he complied hesitantly, if he was honest with himself he didn't want her to stay with him, he knew she would be pleased since she thought he was ahem 'smexy' but he felt oddly jealous.

Byakuya was preparing the guest quarters somewhat happily. He was, unusually, looking forward to staying with her, she was interesting and somewhat cute….wait did he just say _cute_? He shook his head.

Zoe was feeling conflicted. A pretty big part of her brain was screaming run to toshi! You have to stay with him he's too cute to let go! While the other part of her brain was saying score! Now all you have to do is hide in his room and you might be able to catch him when he comes out of the shower! Half naked and dripping wet!

Then, thank to her short attention span, she started to wonder what Toshiro looked without a shirt, shortly after she fainted from loss of blood, her nosebleed legendary after imaging the sexy captains half naked and dripping wet.

How would she deal with being stuck in between the two? Is a love-triangle coming up? Will anyone notice her face down in the grass?

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><p><strong>o_O what did you think? revieeeeew pleeeease!<strong>

**just letting you know the next three chapters will be mainly fluff but i need to balance out the seriousness of the story somehow ;D**

**IF YOU DONT WANT A SPOILER STOP READING NOW!**

**ok if you're still reading i assume you want the spoiler**

**it isn't much but**

**the next 3 chapters contain**

**love triangle between 2 certain captains and a very fiesty girl**

**ichiruki goodness **

**and**

**a big fight**


	7. Fun and Games

**a/n: as always bleach is not mine i don't know why that fact would have changed by now but oh well**

**triple chapter update! hope you guys enjoy :D**

***gives cookie's to all readers* yay virtual cookie's!**

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><p><span>Fun and Games<span>

Byakuya's day

"Hey Bya? What's this?" Zoë pointed to the wooden bamboo fountain in the garden curiously.

"It's a fountain obviously, the water rushes through the many shoots and causes the bamboo tubes to move" he explained patiently, if it had been anyone else he probably would have sighed and walked away, but there was something charming about her curiosity.

"So do noblemen have to be boring all the time?" she asked him, when he raised his eyebrow she quickly rephrased, "I mean don't they let you have fun? You're always so uptight" she laughed.

"As head of the Kuchiki household my duty is to..."

"Yeah yeah I know but I mean that doesn't stop you from having fun does it? You don't even talk to Rukia and she's your sister, what's up with that? You obviously care about her"

"I care about her a lot, the problem is I went against the family law to adopt her and as such I can't allow myself to get too close to her, if I do then it would just mean trouble for her, the elders would most likely have something to say" he explained sadly

"Elders? I thought you were the head of the family" she queried

"Yes but there are still those with more authority than me"

"Oh…." They sat in silence for a few moments, then Zoë couldn't take it anymore so ran about the Kuchiki mansion asking Byakuya, lots of questions, teasing him for being so boring, and of course asking him if he would be so kind as to remove his shirt, ten times.

Byakuya wasn't used to being so troubled, no-one had the nerve to talk to him like that, not even Ichigo, but here was Zoë a normal human trying her best to annoy the crap out of him but he found it…..nice.

Zoe looked over to the raven haired man. She was wondering why he hadn't ignored her and walked off already. Smiling to herself she thought he must have fallen for her charm, now if only she could get him to take off his shirt.

Later that night an exhausted Zoë collapsed into bed. She was tired of this act, but she only had to wait a little more. She was worrying about the hollows attacking her when she heard a bang. Being as curious as she was she made her way into Byakuya's room and what she saw nearly made her faint.

Byakuya Kuchiki was standing by his bed, having picked up a small table which was presumably the source of the bang, he was half naked, a towel wrapped around his lower body, water still dripping from his beautifully scattered raven hair and toned muscles.

Her eyes travelled over him, simultaneously drooling and having a nosebleed, as she took in the sight of a half-naked and dripping wet Byakuya Kuchiki. She never could have imagined this in her wildest dreams, he was much hotter than she had thought.

Byakuya coughed her out of her trance, blushing, she looked at him, her face turned red as she ran from the room. She was going to have _no _trouble sleeping today.

Toshiro's day

"Hey toshi" Zoë announced her presence in the captains office. She was immediately set upon by Rangiku, the two hugged and gossiped about people Zoë had no idea about, but she still had to keep up appearances. The small white haired captain snapped,

"Rangiku finish you paperwork!" his busty lieutenant pouted at him, but resumed her paperwork, the captain had been in a bad mood all day so she wasn't taking any chances. Zoe sensing this decided she would cheer him up, tolerating a grouchy captain wasn't her idea of fun.

"Hey toshi lets go" she grabbed a blustering captain and dragged him out the room, despite his protests. "Here we are!" she announced. Toshiro looked around, they were in a small clearing by a lake. The weather had been a little cold the past few days but it was pleasant today, the sun shining off the glistening water.

"Why did you bring me her?" he was actually glad she had gotten him out of the office, he needed a break and was feeling better already.

"We're gonna have a picnic!" she showed him a basket, as she lay down a blanket and sat down laying out several treats she had, well let's just say 'procured'. Toshiro sat down beside her enjoying the slight breeze.

The picnic was fun for both, they had tons of food and talked about a myriad of things laughing at each other. Toshiro even poked fun at her for eating so messy, she had blushed as he picked a grain of rice off of her face. They sat enjoying the weather for a while, till Zoë got restless and waded into the lake.

"Get out of there! You don't even have a bathing suit!" he yelled at her

"Relax I'm not going swimming! I just wanted to stand in the water for a while, it's really nice" she looked upwards, eyes closed in thought, enjoying the peace. Toshiro looked on in amazement, she was really beautiful, why hadn't he noticed it before? Oh yeah she had always been busy beating the crap out of him or someone else. He smiled at her.

They returned to the squad barracks after watching the sunset, Toshiro wasn't about to admit it but he had more fun with her today than he had ever before. Zoe had had a lot of fun too, she probably shouldn't have gone overboard but she couldn't help it.

"I better get back to the Kuchiki mansion" she waved her goodbye and left.

"Bye Zoë" he sat down with a sigh, slightly laughing as she had made him unexpectedly happy. There weren't many people that could make Toshiro Hitsugaya happy but somehow she had managed.

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><p><strong>what did you guys think? like the fluff? i had to balance out the seriousness somehow ;)<strong>

**!PLEASE REVIEW GUYS!**


	8. Pranks and Duels

**some more fluff for you guys ;D a lil dabble of the serious stuff as well so i dont lose the story ;D**

**enjoy, blah, blah, blah i don't own bleach**

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><p><span>Pranks and Duels<span>

"Pranks?" Byakuya looked at Zoë questioningly "what are pranks?"

Zoe's mouth hung open "you don't know what a prank is? That does it today your pulling pranks with me!" she decided for him. She had planned out several mischievous pranks to turn the soul society upside down, this was going to be fun. She had to spend her time doing something, if she waited around she would probably go insane.

"What do I do with this?" the raven haired captain asked her as he held up a note.

"Slip it to Ichigo, but make sure he doesn't see you"

"Why?"

"He thinks it's from Rukia asking him to make out" he spluttered at her as he tried to shove the thought from his mind.

"What are we going to do to him" he asked deviously as she smiled back at him.

"hehe just you wait"

Ichigo wondered towards a store room, whistling happily, he hadn't spent time alone with Rukia for a while. As he walked in he couldn't see anything and before he could turn around to find a lantern someone grabbed him. He struggled but there must have been more than two people. They tied him up and put a sack over his head.

"What the hell?" Ichigo woke up to find himself tied to a post in the middle of a training ground, in nothing but his boxers. As much as he struggled he couldn't get free "What the hell is going on!" he yelled.

Rukia was blushing band covering her eyes as Renji laughed his head off. Yumichika, Ikaku, Rangiku, Toshiro not to mention Zoë and Byakuya were all standing holding water balloons. Ichigo's eyes widened as he realised what was going on.

"No way! Don't you dare!"

"Oh yeah? You gonna stop us?" Zoë smiled, "Ready?" everyone pulled back their arms "Aim" they locked on target, "Fiiiiire!" she shouted and everyone launched the water balloons at a screaming soul reaper.

As Rukia untied Ichigo and handed him robes his teeth chattered uncontrollably and he was a mess "What ththtthe hell?" Byakuya smirked at him

"It was what you call a 'cold shower' a lesson if you dare put your hands on my sister" he walked away with a laughing Zoë in tow as the two looked at him in amazement, Byakuya pulled a prank?

"Who's next? That was quite enjoyable" he asked his devious companion

"I think squad 11 needs to be taught a lesson by squad 4" she rubbed her hands together in excitement. Byakuya made a mental note never to get on her bad side.

"Bwaahahahaha!" both Zoë and Byakuya were laughing uncontrollably at the sight before them.(yeah I know Zoë made _Byakuya _laugh! o_O)

Squad 11 was being pummelled by pies, yes pies that were being launched at them by squad 4. The only reason they couldn't fight back was because Mayuri had placed a spirit barrier around them rendering them incapable to move. He had to agree because honestly he was afraid Zoë would kick him again.

"Scatter Senbonzakura" Byakuya wasn't training. Zoe was watching gleefully from the sidelines. Renji was trying to run away screaming as Byakuya set his shikai on him.

"Not my hair please captain! If you cut my hair I'll never get a girlfriend" he pleaded as Byakuya was attempting to chop his hair of, for laughs, you know as you do.

"Renji do you really think _that's _the reason you won't be able to get a girlfriend" the captain laughed at his subordinate. What the hell had gotten into his captain? Not only did he smile but he was actually laughing! If that wasn't shocking enough he was pulling pranks as well! What the hell was going on?

After they had ditched a sobbing Renji, whose hair had only been chopped a little since he was being a cry-baby and neither prankster could take it, they sat watching the clouds. Zoe was planning to laze the rest of the day away, while Byakuya had a training session with Toshiro.

"I had fun, thank you" he smiled at her as he walked away.

"Later you'll wanna take that thank you back" she sighed to herself sadly. She had to face up to her fate no matter what it had been decided, even if she had changed her mind…

Toshiro was staring down the older captain in front of him. He wasn't the kind of person that held grudges but for some reason he couldn't shake the feeling of hatred he felt for his fellow captain. If he was honest with himself he was jealous that Byakuya had spent so much time with Zoë, of course there was no way he would tell her that but still….

Byakuya watched the younger captain as he realised with amusement that he was jealous. Of course Byakuya himself was very fond of the young girl but she was more like a sister than well you know. He decided however that it was important to make sure he cared about her enough so he decided to humour him with the duel. If he won then Toshiro's love story came to an end…..

Zoe was called by Byakuya to a secluded spot that had a perfect view of the imminent sunset. She wondered what was going on soul reapers sure are strange she used, but like it or not she was having a nice time…

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><p><strong>what did you guys think of naughty byakuya? i thought it was delish but thats just me<strong>

**much love to reviewers more input would be awesome!**


	9. The Crumbling Resolve

**ok this one's relatively short but important!**

**since my name isn't tite kubo bleach obviously isnt mine ;D**

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><p><span>The Crumbling Resolve<span>

Byakuya walked towards Zoë, she was staring at the sky deep in thought, he frowned as he noted her melancholy mood. As he drew nearer she noticed his presence and turned to face him, smiling as ever, though a little sadly.

"Hey what's going on?" she asked

"Zoe, I wanted to say…..I like having you here" he was clearly uncomfortable "you are a very unusual girl but I like that about you, I will protect you no matter what, my friend." He looked at her affectionately as she realised that he was giving her the same love he had for his sister, Rukia.

"Byakuya…thank you" she whispered, finding herself unable to say anything more. This was dangerous, she couldn't let herself get attached to these people, it was dangerous. Her resolve was weakening as she felt tears spring to her eyes. She had been alone for so long that the sudden burst of emotion had taken her by surprise.

However

She then remembered the reason for her loneliness and her resolve strengthened again. Byakuya walked away as Zoë watched him go she was thankful that it hadn't been Toshiro. For some reason she wouldn't have been able to deal with him.

"Zoë" she froze as the captain of squad ten glanced at her nervously, she turned around to face him. "I won" he said simply as if it was an explanation. When she looked at him confused he explained about the duel.

She stared at him warily "so what does that mean?" she was afraid of the answer.

"Zoë I, well….um…..I've fallen for you" he looked into her eyes. "I don't know when or why but I did" he took her hands in his. She looked back at him warily.

'Careful this is getting dangerous, don't forget, never forget' she told herself desperately as her resolve was crumbling, her determination fading as she lost the will to carry on.

He drew closer to her, their faces were inches from each other, it was now or never, what would she choose? Her mind was flailing, her heartbeat rapid as he closed the distance. He snaked his arms around her waist pulling her close, she felt his heart beating erratically against hers and closed her eyes. She had given in.

She couldn't fight it, even if it made things harder, even if it caused her pain, she couldn't pull away. She let her determination falter, in that moment, her resolve crumbled to nothing as their lips met in the middle.

The sun had set long ago and now the moonlight bathed the two, throwing light onto their contrasting appearances.

The stars witnessing the passionate embrace between the white haired shinigami and the dark haired girl.

A crumbled resolve, an unfrozen heart beating in sync with another. But how long till the pain and darkness tears them both apart? Will they be able to fight against fate or will they lose their new found love? Would their hearts become frozen or will they beat together?

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><p><strong>o_O suspense... stay tuned the action begins next chapter :D<strong>

**same as before i would LOVE LOVE reviews! :P**


	10. The First Wave

**a/n: i wasn't actually planning on updating today but i just couldn't help myself lol**

**thnx for the reviews by the way! you guys RULE! :D**

**as always bleach isn't mean because the romances are left way too open (if they can be called romances)**

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><p><span>The First Wave<span>

Toshiro and Zoë were sitting in the squad 10 barracks, as they made the transition from friends to boyfriend and girlfriend. Because neither had any idea how to do this there had been a rather awkward and embarrassing conversation with a painfully enthusiastic Rangiku.

However now they were both hanging out, a little bored, but just as Zoë was going to suggest something a hell butterfly flew in.

"Attention all squads, emergency! Several Adjuchas class hollows have appeared in the seireitei! Emergency all squads mobilize!" both looked at one another worriedly.

"Zoë you stay her ok? I'll be right back" he told her as he reached for his sword.

"No way! I'm not staying behind! She argued with him, not wanting him to risk being injured,

"Look I'll be safe, you're the one they're after" he put his hands on her shoulders and sat her down, "I'll protect you" he kissed her lightly and ran from the room calling for Rangiku.

…..'I'm not ready for this yet, all I wanted was a little more time with him, I really do have a cursed fate' she put her head in her hands afraid that that had been goodbye….

"We meet again soul reaper!" Toshiro turned around to face the same Adjuchas he had fought in the world of the living. "This time I'll end you're pathetic life" he sneered at him.

"Sure you will" the captain laughed "what you seem to be forgetting is that in the world of the living my spiritual pressure was severely restricted, here you have absolutely no chance" and before the hollow could reply Toshiro slashed his sword in the air, taking him down with one swipe of his blade.

"Getsuga Tensho!" Ichigo took down three Gillian to the right of Toshiro, winking at him and then turning to fight another Adjuchas, which had appeared from the strange rift in the sky that resembled the Garganta.

"Dance! Sode No Shirayuki, Some no mai, Tsukishiro!" Rukia froze two Adjuchas with ease, and yelled over to Ichigo and Toshiro "Captain Kurotsuchi said if we can hold them off a little longer he'll be able to close the rift"

"Good that'll make thing easier on us" Ichigo responded, Toshiro nodded at them.

"Scatter, Senbonzakura" Byakuya had joined the fight to give them some support.

"Captain Kuchiki it's alright we have the situation under control" Toshiro informed him as Byakuya looked at him in that bored yet sexy expression of his

"Yes I realise that but this fight concerns me also" he explained as his shikai cut down hollow after hollow, and also narrowly missed Ichigo who dodged, he looked at the older captain in disbelief

"What the hell! You said you were fine with me and Rukia dating!" he yelled at him as Rukia ignored them both and continued fighting, she had resigned herself to the fact that they would fight forever no matter what she said.

"Just because I accept it does not mean I like it" he flashed his patented 'don't mess with me' look.

"Could the both of you discuss this some other time" Toshiro was torn between anger and amusement.

"Growl Haineko!" Rangiku took down two hollows that had snuck behind her captain as he had been distracted "come on captain focus remember" she teased him, it was rare that she saved him so she was going to take advantage of the situation fully.

"Attention the rift has been closed, dispose of the remaining hollows at once" a hell butterfly informed them just as Toshiro had been about to yell at Rangiku.

The five warriors smirked and gripped their swords. They set off in opposite directions and cut down the enemy, who had no chance against them.

"Soon soul reapers! Our master shall rise and our army will crush you! You will fall!" the hollow screamed as Ichigo cut through him. They looked at each other slightly concerned about his declaration. They took down all the remaining hollow's and went to give their report.

After they had reported their findings to the head captain, Toshiro and Byakuya were ordered to assemble a team that would respond the next time to this threat. They also planned a meeting with Mayuri to discuss the rift in the sky.

It was decided that Ichigo, Rukia, Rangiku and Renji along with the two captains would be the response team to this event. After things had been organized they went their respective ways.

Byakuya to the Kuchiki mansion, Rukia and Ichigo to resume their interrupted date, Rangiku back to Hinamori's for their gossip session and Toshiro back to the barracks where he had left a worried Zoë.

"Toshi!" Zoë exclaimed and threw herself on the startled captain, gripping him tightly, somewhat afraid to let him go. He held on to her and sighed

"How weak do you think I am? I'm a captain you know" he shook his head at her disbelief and then yelled in pain as she hit him in the arm

"I was worried about you, you big jerk! Why would you insult me after I was worrying about you?" she shouted through her tears.

On seeing this he felt ashamed of himself and hugged her back, she could be so silly sometimes, what did she think was going to happen? There was no way the soul society could be taken down by that weak attack.

Toshiro thought over this and decided that no matter how small the threat he had to train the response team in order to protect Zoë. He may have only known her for a short time but he was ready to lay down his life for her.

Zoe was relieved, it had been the first wave so he hadn't been in trouble.

But

She knew the time was drawing closer when they would be pulled apart, she didn't even dare to hope otherwise. Not that she could have, as far as she was concerned there was no point in hoping against fate. It was almost time, soon her heart would return to its former state. Crumbled and frozen, the only difference was this time it would probably stay that way.

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><p><strong>what you guys think? things are getting serious now o_O not to worry i'll add in a little humor here and there as well :D<strong>

**REVIEWS PLEEEEASE!**


	11. The Plan of Action

**a/n: since my name isn't tite kubo i obviously don't own bleach :D**

**this chapter is pretty important so stick with me guys! **

**love to all my readers who stuck with me! :D**

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><p><span>Plan of Action<span>

Toshiro, Byakuya and Ichigo were sitting with Mayuri discussing the amount of spiritual pressure the hollows that had attacked them possessed. They had decided that currently they weren't a threat but were disconcerted with the parting message, which they took to mean a more powerful force would be attacking.

"We can't rule out the possibility of Arrancar, if Adjuchas were involved, needless to say it would be an excellent opportunity to gather some research specimen" Mayuri smiled widely as the other three just sighed, it was the 10th time he had talked about 'researching'.

"If that's the case then we have to make sure that all other squads are ready to defend, just in case we're overwhelmed" Toshiro discussed with Byakuya and Ichigo who nodded in approval.

"We're gonna have to get out orders as soon as possible then, to let them prepare" Ichigo mentioned, Byakuya nodded in agreement

"I shall inform them right away" he walked off to send hell butterflies to the other squads.

"Rangiku, Renji and Rukia are training right now aren't they?" Toshiro asked Ichigo who nodded,

"Yeah they said they were gonna get some training in today" Mayuri got up causing the other two to look at him,

"I am going to prepare the alarm system to inform us straight away if anyone enters the seireitei without permission" he slinked off muttering things about an 'experiment'

"Ichigo I'm going back to the squad barracks to check on Zoë you go and get some training done with the others" he nodded the orange haired soul reaper out of the room. As he made his way back he couldn't help but worry about Zoë. She had been acting strangely since yesterday.

He supposed it could have been due to the sudden hollow attack, and maybe she was just worried, but he couldn't help but feel that there was something else. Since the hollows had attacked she had become increasingly introverted, distancing herself from everyone, even him. Like she was afraid of something.

Zoe was sitting in the squad barracks, she had been avoiding everyone as much as she could, especially Toshiro. If she stayed with them any longer her resolve would cease to exist and she couldn't allow that. She had made up her mind long ago, and she couldn't back down now. Justice would reign….

MEANWHILE

Byakuya had informed the rest of the squads of their orders and was on his way to see head captain Yamamoto, when Ukitake and Shunsui appeared in front of him looking concerned.

"Do you really think that all this is necessary?" Ukitake asked him "It feels like we're at war"

"We may well be my friend" Shunsui put in "I get what you mean though it kinda feels like that whole thing with Aizen" Byakuya nodded and told them

"Yes it does feel somewhat similar, but no matter what we must do our duty and protect the seireitei" he informed them. They talked a little longer about strategy and then parted ways.

IN THE TRAINING GROUNDS

Ichigo was sparring with Renji, while Rukia and Rangiku practiced their kidou. They had been alternating like this for the past three hours, except when it came to Ichigo and Renji they practiced flash, step since they suck at kidou.

They were preparing for the imminent fight, but that didn't mean they were completely focused,

"Ichigo! What the hell, I could have hit you with that!" Rukia shouted at her boyfriend as he had stumbled in front of her as she had aimed a hado shot at the target.

"c'mon! It was Renji's fault!, what are you gonna do if I die in training?" the two turned around to glare at Renji who nervously laughed and then ran as fast as he could.

"Honestly, those two don't leave any chance to argue" Rangiku smiled at her teammates. She was a little worried, there was something in her gut telling her that something very bad was going to happen. She just hoped they would get through it all right.

THAT AFTERNOON

"ATTENTION, ALL PERSONNELL WE ARE UNDER ATTACK! REPEAT WE ARE UNDER ATTACK!"

The alarm rang out across the seireitei as all squads began to mobilize, they had been given orders already but were caught off guard at how soon the attack had come. They hadn't had any time to prepare.

Elsewhere Ichigo, Rukia, Rangiku and Renji ran to the squad 10 barracks where they met up with Toshiro and Byakuya. They nodded at each other and moved out.

Toshiro glanced back at the room nervously, as the alarm had sounded Zoë had a blank look on her face, almost as if she hadn't heard it at all. He was worried, she wasn't showing any sign of emotion.

"I'll protect you….no matter what…." He whispered.

After they had left Zoë got up and left the room…..

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><p><strong>ok i might update another chapter late tonight if you wanna check back :D<strong>

**thing are getting really serious now! **

**i bet you wanna know Zoe's secret! :D**

**oh i almost forgot! revieeeeews pleeeeease! ;P**


	12. The Arrancar Army

**a/n: as always bleach isn't mine, here you guys go! i ended up updating again!**

**this is a very intense fight scene but i actually had fun writing it! hope you guys enjoy :D**

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><p><span>The Arrancar Army<span>

The team consisting of Toshiro, Byakuya, Ichigo, Rukia, Rangiku and Renji were on their way to Sokyoku hill, where they had been told the enemy was waiting.

However they weren't ready for what they saw when they had reached there. 10 arrancar were standing there with an army of hollows behind them, varying from Adjuchas and Gillian to low-level hollows.

"What the hell?" Ichigo looked shocked, his emotions mirrored on the others faces. They were gripping their swords tightly preparing for the fight. Then the arrancar standing in front of the other spoke,

"We are the army of justice! Allow me to introduce to you the army that will be your downfall!" the tall green haired, purple eyed arrancar said.

"Humph! The army of justice? That's an arrogant not to mention redundant name for an army" Rukia sneered at him as Byakuya nodded in agreement.

The woman arrancar with long red hair and the male with short blue hair just laughed and launched their attack.

"Howl! Zabimaru! "

"Growl! Haineko!"

They were intercepted by Renji and Rangiku. They fought fiercely against them as the rest of the arrancar launched themselves at the soul reapers.

"Rain over the frosted heavens! Hyorinmaru!"

Toshiro started to fight against two male arrancar both with blonde hair, they were strong but against him they were on equal ground.

"Scatter! Senbonzakura"

Byakuya was fighting against three arrancar who, despite their appearances weren't very strong, they were large and brutish but their slow movements were no match for Byakuya's agile strength.

"Getsuga tensho!"

Ichigo had been attacked by the one who seemed to be the leader, the one that had introduced the rest,. The tall purple eyed arrancar was strong but Ichigo was holding his own.

"Dance! Sode no Shirayuki!"

Rukia was trying to take down two female arrancar, one with pink hair and one with purple. She was doing well as the arrancar were overpowered by her.

They had been joined by Ukitake and Shunsui along with their lieutenants who were taking care of the other hollows, so that they could focus on defeating the arrancar.

Byakuya cut down two of the arrancar he was fighting, their movements had been too slow to dodge and he had easily countered. The third however was giving him trouble, even though he was slow he possessed immense strength.

"Be careful! Some of them are easily defeatable, but some possess strength on an espada level" he informed the others.

Rangiku had taken down the one she had been fighting and started to clear away the Gillian who were getting in their way, there were too many for the two captains and their lieutenants to handle alone.

"Bankai! Hihio Zabimaru!" Renji had been losing and in an attempt to turn the tables he released his bankai. His opponent was strong and as he launched an attack towards him Renji countered "Hikotsu Taiho!" the blast went straight to the arrancar who sneered at his attack and countered again with a powerful cero.

"Tsugi no mai Hakuren!" Rukia yelled and encased the two arrancar in ice. As the ice shattered she ensured they had been defeated. She then turned around to help Toshiro who was having trouble defeating his two arrancar.

As Toshiro, Byakuya, Rukia, Ichigo and Renji fought the five remaining arrancar Ukitake sent out a hell butterfly to check why there was little resistance from the squads. They had received orders and even if they had little time to prepare the squads should have still been fighting.

The five arrancar jumped back from their opponents and held their swords out in front of them.

"They're going to release! Stand back!" Toshiro yelled to the others as Ukitake looked on worriedly at the news he had just received.

"Scream! Banshi himei! (banshee scream)" the arrancar fighting Renji said

"Fight! Mori no Ryoshu (lord of the forest)" the arrancar fighting Byakuya declared

"Change! Kakudai Shukusho(expansion and reduction)" the arrancar fighting Rukia smirked

"Control! Ningyo-shi (puppet master)" the arrancar facing Toshiro declared

"Recognize! Yokan!(premonition)" Ichigo's opponent smiled.

Renji and the newly modified arrancar, who had gained large mouths over various parts of his body, fought each other ferociously his bankai clashing with the enemy. His attacks hit from time to time but never seemed to make much damage. The arrancar was also struggling to defeat the tattooed soul reaper. His special attack, which consisted of emitting large sound waves, was doing damage but was far away from defeating him.

Byakuya was trying to cut down his enemy with his shikai but in his released form, the arrancar had been launching sharp wooden spikes at him incessantly. It seemed similar to Byakuya's shikai as there didn't seem to be a limit to how many he could produce. They were being launched at great speed through four large cannons on his shoulders and hips.

Rukia had been winning against her opponent but since he had released his Zanpakuto he had gained the ability to shrink himself or expand himself at will. Armour had encased his body, making it harder to do damage to him but Rukia was holding up well and had managed to take one of his arms.

Toshiro was having a very tough time against his opponent. In his released form he had strings coming out of every part of his body. It seemed he had the ability to control people's movements but on further inspection Toshiro realised it was his shadow that was being manipulated. He tried to avoid this by moving around as much as possible but it was difficult to dodge his attacks and launch a counter attack at the same time.

As they fought fiercely Ukitake and Shunsui were forced to retreat as they had been informed that the squads had all been taken down, so they went off in an effort to help them. They just hoped that the team behind them had the strength to hold off the enemy indefinitely.

The six team members fought fiercely, and were holding their ground, barely.

Renji had been severely injured from a sound wave attack from his opponent and was struggling to stay upright.

Byakuya had several cuts on him as did Toshiro.

Rukia, being the only one to land a destructive attack on her opponent was doing well.

Ichigo however was struggling.

He had released his bankai and was using his hollow mask as well but the arrancar he was fighting was very strong. He aimed his kuroi getsuga at his enemy who dodged and appeared behind him landing a deadly blow on the back of his head.

The lead arrancar's released form had two scythe's coming out of his forearms and a third eye on his forehead. He had predicted each of Ichigo's moves, how could you fight someone who knew what you were going to do before you did?

Ichigo's eyes widened and he groaned in pain as the arrancar plunged his scythe into Ichigo's stomach.

"Ichigo!" Rukia yelled tears in her eyes, as she watched her boyfriend plummet to the ground. His mask disintegrated, eyes closing as everything faded to black.

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><p><strong>what did you guys think? things are getting tense right? and where is zoe? stay tuned :D<strong>

**REVIEWS PLEASE! especially on this chapter, i'd like some feedback on the names of thier swords and stuff was it ok? lol i know thier names haven't been revealed yet but soon i promise!**

**:D**


	13. The Name of the Enemy

**a/n: hey! i bet you guys hate me right now, i'm really really sorry i didn't update yesterday! i wasn't torturing you on purpose honest!**

**ok so yesterday was crazzy! today was insaaane! somehow i found the time to write this but i'm not overy pleased with it :P**

**its fine but its not my best chapter in my opinion anyway... (i'll write the arrancar at the bottom in an a/n to remind u guys what thier names mean and what they're powers are) -BLEACH IS NOT MINE-**

**i know u guys want me to stfu but i need to tell you that my updates will be slower these next few days D: bear with me guys! thing is my mum got leg surgery done today so i have to take care of her and both my brothers and my 6 yr old sis which is why my updating will be kinda slow... :'(**

** !I LOVE YOU GUYS FOR STAYING AND REVIEWING!**

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><p><span>The Name of the Enemy<span>

"Ichigo!" Rukia screamed, tears streaming down her face, she abandoned the arrancar she was fighting to catch him, preventing further injuries. She managed to catch him before he crashed into the ground. Byakuya directed his bankai towards them, creating a shield as the arrancar she had been fighting aimed a powerful cero at them in his enlarged state.

While he was doing this he was hit in the back by a large wooden spike in the back by his own adversary. Blood trailed down his back as he turned and aimed a hado shot at his opponent to buy some time.

Renji's arm had been severely damaged and was hanging limply by his side. He was struggling to throw attacks.

"Fall back!" the large purple eyed arrancar laughed "It's time to introduce ourselves! They at least deserve to know the name of the people that are going to kill them!" he sneered at them obnoxiously.

The arrancar lined up, still in their released forms. From left to right, the arrancar that had been fighting Rukia was called Runihara, the one fighting Renji declared himself as Raidon. Byakuya's enemy was named Aare and Toshiro's had been fighting Khons.

The leader that had defeated Ichigo declared himself as Yukio. They looked down on the injured soul reapers, sneering at them. They didn't know what a bad situation they were in. Suddenly Kenpachi appeared,

"Hey! All the squads have been taken down! Were the only ones left standing!" he informed the horrified team

"What about the captains?" Rangiku asked

"Me, Ukitake, Shunsui and the head captain are still standing, so is Hisagi, aside from that Unohana and Mayuri are handling the injured." He told them gravely.

"No more talking worms!" Khons had used the distraction to his advantage and had taken control of Kenpachi.

"What the hell? I can't move!" the confused captain struggled

"Oh no! He got captain Zaraki" Rangiku shouted, Khons laughed and made Kenpachi slash the air with his sword cutting down Rangiku

"Quiet girl! Your voice annoys me" he laughed as Toshiro flash stepped over to catch his lieutenant.

"You bastards you'll pay!" he shouted.

While they tried desperately to figure out what to do Ukitake and Shunsui showed up,

"We'll take Rangiku and Ichigo to squad 4 and have them healed will you be able to hold them off till we get back?" Ukitake asked Byakuya and Toshiro who nodded.

They left with Rangiku, Ichigo and also a protesting Renji in tow. Kenpachi was smiling manically as he drew his sword eliciting a surprised look from the arrancar controlling him.

"How the hell!" he shouted trying to regain control

"I can only fight against this for so long, but I won't let you control me! I fight for the thrill, not when I'm told!" he laughed as he slashed himself, therefore rendering himself useless to the arrancar who was forced to let go. Kenpachi fell, Byakuya caught him and laid him on the ground.

One of their best warriors was down.

They were losing.

"You're not the only one I can control!" he said angrily as he turned to Byakuya, however before he could do anything he was cut down by Shunsui's shikai. They all turned to face him as the normally calm and cool captain's face was contorted with rage and anger.

"Ukitake's been severely hurt and old man Yamamoto is out of commission as well, there are more arrancar, they ambushed us when we were coming back from squad 4" he informed them gravely "we're the last ones standing"

They all looked at each other with quiet understanding, they had to defeat the enemy otherwise it was all over.

Toshiro, Byakuya, Shunsui, Rukia and also Shuhei, who had come with Shunsui, prepared to fight. They all set off against the enemy and the fierce clash began.

Byakuya was fighting Raidon, the arrancar that had injured Renji, whilst Toshiro was still struggling to defeat Khons. Shuhei and Shunsui were fighting Aare and Runihara respectively while Rukia launched her attacks straight at the leader.

She was fighting with all her might against the one who had injured Ichigo, and while she was holding up well, she was nowhere near powerful enough to defeat him. While the others held their foes in check Rukia was failing.

He had managed to counter and block her every move. The only hit she had landed was merely a small cut on his chest. As she struggled to stay conscious his attacks grew fiercer and his blows heavier.

She couldn't keep this up much longer.

"Arrghh!" she groaned as he stabbed her in the gut. Her strength was drained, the mind still willing to fight but the body unable to comply. "I'm sorry Ichigo" she whispered as she fell.

Byakuya looked on in horror as his beloved younger sister fell to the ground, blood spilling everywhere, and here he was unable to catch her. He couldn't succeed in getting away from Raidon.

A singe tear fell from his eyes.

"Got ya"

Ichigo whispered as he caught his falling girlfriend in his arms, he hadn't been fully healed yet but when he had sensed her fluxuating spiritual pressure he couldn't stay away. He looked up at Yukio with uncontrollable rage in his eyes.

This was going to be a hard fight but they had to win.

If they didn't the soul society would be lost.

However

There was one thing in the back of every one's mind, who was their leader and why wasn't he here?

They would soon regret wondering that…

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><p><strong>what did you guys think? i hope it didn't suck too bad :P i bet you guys are wondering what i've done with zoe right? in due time my friends in due time :D<strong>

**as always i LOVE reviews! please give me some?**

**THE ARRANCAR:**

**NAMES - MEANING - ORIGIN - ZANPAKUTO**

**Raidon - thunder god - japanese - "scream banshi himei" (banshee scream)**

**aare - forest - arabic - "fight mori no ryoshu" (lord of the forest)**

**Runihara - destroyer - egyptian - "change kakudai shukusho"(expansion and reduction)**

**Khons - god of the moon - egyptian - "control ningyo-shi"(puppet master)**

**Yukio - gets what he wants - japanese - "recognize yokan"(premonition)**

**so there you go ^^ the names and abilities of the bad guys lol i didnt want to use all japanese names since the espada have completely made up names so i tried to mix it up a lil but hopefully they're still relevant (apart frm yukio's but the meaning killed so i just HAD to ue it lol)**

**THANK YOU GUYS FOR STICKING WITH ME!**


	14. Byakuya Falls

**a/n: hey guys sorry for the late update! here ya go! these two chapters are relatively short but there is a lot of stuff covered in them :D**

**dont be afraid of the title nothing like that (honestly i'm not a monster!)**

**bleach is...mine...NOT! ;D**

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><p><span>Byakuya Falls<span>

For the first time in his life, Byakuya Kuchiki was afraid.

Rukia had been severely injured by Yukio, and although Ichigo had caught her, her injuries were still serious. Ichigo himself was clashing with Yukio again but still unable to defeat him. Shunsui was being slightly overpowered by Aare but Shuhei had been defeated by Runihara. He was bleeding profusely unable to stand, therefore unable to fight.

Byakuya himself had gained the upper hand against Raidon and Toshiro was successfully evading Khons special ability. The fight was not going well but they still had the captains and Ichigo. They were also confident that with Byakuya still fighting they still had the ability to win.

The captain was renowned for his skill in combat, his bankai was only used on those few enemies strong enough to be privileged with it. He had the ability to defeat lesser enemies without his shikai not to mention he was defeating the arrancar he was fighting.

If he could get this one down then it would be one less enemy to fight.

"It is time for you to die arrancar" he said coldly to his enemy. He had managed to get him into a defenceless position and was moving in for the kill when all of a sudden…

"No you don't! Soul reaper!" Runihara exclaimed as he pounced at the startled captain from his left side. Byakuya attempted to dodge by jumping right but was intercepted by Khons who had managed to distract Toshiro momentarily.

He had been surrounded by both arrancar and as he jumped back to get away he saw Raidon move forward.

'Damn' he thought to himself 'they have me surrounded' he looked down at Rukia, knowing his fate.

As all three arrancar aimed powerful cero's at him he said "I'm sorry Rukia"

They hit him simultaneously, he felt pain like he had never known before, with a yell he attempted to fight against it but it was no use. He had failed. His duty was to remain incomplete.

He couldn't protect the soul society.

He couldn't protect his squad or his lieutenant.

He couldn't protect his pride, Rukia.

He wasn't even able to protect himself.

Byakuya Kuchiki had failed.

Byakuya Kuchiki had fallen.

Everyone looked on in horror as the arrancar had pulled a dirty move and overpowered the captain. As he fell so did the fighters hopes and chances of winning.

"No…" Ichigo looked on in horror as the captain that, no matter what he said, admired fell. If there was one person that he was sure would hold on till the end it was Byakuya Kuchiki.

"Captain…" Toshiro said, eyes wide in despair as he watched his comrade fall. His hope was dwindling but he had to keep going for Zoë….he hoped the enemy hadn't found her because surely if they had they would know? He silently made a pact to avenge the fallen captain.

"You'll pay for that you dishonourable filth!" Shunsui shouted and launched himself towards the enemies. He began to fight Aare and Raidon at the same time. Ichigo had caught Byakuya and laid him down beside Rukia and Shuhei and then went off to fight against Khons and Runihara.

Toshiro decided to take down the leader and the strongest of them first. He was attacking Yukio with all his might.

To keep the soul society safe.

To avenge his fallen comrades.

To avenge Byakuya Kuchiki.

To protect Zoë.

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><p><strong>haha things are getting tense now... review's much appreciated :D poor bya is injured :(<strong>

**byakuya: your the reason i'm injured**

**me: sorry bya! it's important for the story!**

**byakuya: whatever *looks away coldly***

**me: *fangirl squeal* you look so cute when your mad bya!**

**byakuya: stop calling me bya!**

**me: i love you bya! *glomps byakua***


	15. Unexpected

**A/N: here's the next chapter again short but important!**

**thanks to all my dedicated readers and reviewers! i love you guys! (bleach still isnt mine but honestly does tite kubo even give a shit?)**

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><p><span>Unexpected<span>

Ichigo, Shunsui and Toshiro were the last ones standing.

They were fighting with all their might but to no avail. The enemy was far stronger than them and they had them outnumbered. Ichigo had used his trump card and was taking down the two arrancar he was fighting, although not easily. Shunsui was also having some success against his opponents. Toshiro was able to stay on the same level as Yukio, which was quite a feat in itself, and was holding his own.

Aare and Raidon were struggling against Shunsui who was fighting to the best of his ability, and the arrancar were struggling to keep up with the captain. They were getting in several hits however. Shunsui lunged forward and plunged both his swords in Aare, but as he did this Raidon appeared behind him plunging his hand into Shunsui's back.

He let out a pained yell and panted, sweat dripping of his face, at least he had managed to take Aare with him. As he looked up though he saw the arrancar smiling as he pointed to where Shunsui's swords were. The area around them had turned to wood, there was no blood at all.

Shunsui's eyes widened as he realised they had tricked him. Aare smiled, creating a large scythe on his arm. "Say goodnight soul reaper" he and Raidon both laughed maniacally as Aare plunged the scythe deep into Shunsui.

Ichigo and Toshiro were speechless as they watched the experienced and powerful captain fall.

"You bastards!" Ichigo yelled and set against his opponents fiercely and menacingly. Blow after blow, his reckless angered style was throwing the arrancar off as they struggled to maintain themselves against his onslaught. He clawed and slashed away at them, dark and powerful he fought with all his might.

He was going to stop them.

He would protect everyone.

He would protect Rukia.

As he was about to land a deadly blow against his opponents, he was surrounded by Aare and Raidon. They would not let him win no matter what. Aare, Raidon, Runihara and Khons had surrounded him and started to attack him from all sides, launching ceros' and powerful attacks against him. As powerful as he was not even he could hold up against the fierce barrage of attack.

Toshiro looked on in horror as he tried to find a way to help him. Every shot he could take was also tricky because he might hit Ichigo. He also had Yukio to deal with who wasn't about to let him go.

"Rukia…..I'm…..sorry" Ichigo struggled as to breathe as he fell.

They had all fallen. Toshiro was the only one left.

He was alone amongst five enemies. Frozen on the spot as he looked over his injured friends.

The soul society had fallen.

They had failed.

"Zoe…" a tear slid down his cheek.

A large cero powered its way toward him about to hit…..

"Hado #4 Byakurai!"

The cero had been intercepted as Toshiro's eyes flew open, that voice belonged to…..

"Master" all the arrancar looked on in surprise and bowed respectfully to their master.

On hearing this Toshiro turned around in disbelief.

Zoe was the leader of the arrancar.

She stood looking at Toshiro emotionlessly.

What would happen now?

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><p><strong>o_O i bet you didn't see that one coming did ya? haha i'll try to update soon! :D<strong>

**if i take a while i'm not trying to torture you guys! honest! :D**

**check out my other stories if you get impatient (shameless plug) i especially love my friend zoe's story which is on my profile its called 'the espada's assistant' and i want her to write more!**


	16. Revelations

**a/n: hey guys guess who updated! :D haha sorry for the wait i've been dying to write the rest of this but had no time. (hence the reason i'm updating at 3 am)**

**now the next installment, thanks to all my lovely readers and reviewers! i love you guys! you guys are the reason i stay up till 3am to write the chapters (since its the only free time i have) this ones long so i hope it holds you guys till the next one :D (bleach = not mine)**

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><p><span>Revelations<span>

Toshiro and Zoe stared at each other for what seemed like an eternity.

Neither one moved.

Both were frozen to the spot and speechless, albeit for contrasting reasons. Toshiro looked on in disbelief he could not believe that it was Zoe, or rather he didn't want to believe. His brain registering her presence but his heart refusing it, every part of him screaming in denial. It wasn't her. No the person in front of him now wasn't Zoë.

Zoe was a cheerful and active, petite, cute, ass-kicking girl. Always bursting with emotions ideas and randomness. Possessing the uncanny ability to make the coldest of people smile, the cruellest of people kind. She was no angel and he knew that. She pulled pranks, shouted obscenities, beat people down and acted very unladylike sometimes. But her mischief just made her all the more lovable. An angel with a devilish streak.

How could she be the cold emotionless and evil person in front of him?

The answer?

She couldn't…..

So to him she wasn't…

He refused to believe it no matter what.

"Captain Hitsugaya" she spoke _more proof, Zoë would call me toshi _"you would do well to give up, don't force me to hurt you it would be troublesome" her voice was stoic, betraying no emotion whatsoever. _It isn't her, it's a trick._

"What did you do to Zoë!" he half screamed at her, her cool façade faltered somewhat in surprise,

"I am Zoë" she stated calmly while he shook his head frantically

"No, no you're not! Don't lie! Where is she what did you do to her?" he was desperate

"I am indeed Zoë, I deceived you, created an alternate personality, it was very troublesome but necessary to infiltrate the soul society" her blank and unmoving eyes fixed upon him, looking at him but not seeing him, for surely if she let herself really look at him she would falter and that was the one thing she couldn't do.

"You're not, she would never do something like this never!" he screamed in denial, telling his senses they were wrong, berating his brain for lying to him so viciously. Poison filling his mind, clouding his common sense. The normally calm and rational thinking captain was drowning in his emotions.

"How can say so surely that I would never do anything like this? You don't even know me that well, you fell for my trick and now you'll suffer…captain" she finished her eyes slightly lighting up at the accusations, he was getting dangerously close to the pain she tried to hide. If he nudged a little more she was afraid she would reveal everything.

"This is your secret? This is why you started to distance yourself from me? But why Zoë? I don't understand what would possess you to do this. Why do you want to take down the soul society so badly that you had to go to these extreme measures?" he pleaded for answers something that would help him to understand, something to lessen her crime and betrayal. Something to lessen his pain.

She looked at him with her fiery gaze, anger and animosity clouding her beautiful features "Why?..." her voice wavered dangerously, about to burst, she was about to profess all her pain and all her hatred. And it was all because of _him. _Never in her life had she felt so backed up into a corner where all she could do was burst with emotion. After all those years of pretending to feel, it turned she _could _feel, but only around him. As much as she despised the fact it so remained. Toshiro Hitsugaya made her feel emotion.

"What did we ever do to you?" he half choked out, aqua eyes delving into her soul, making her feel vulnerable, making her feel naked.

_What did we ever do to you_

The words rang in her mind. It was the final straw. She couldn't keep it in. The years of pain, anger, fear and hatred all came out in one revelation.

"What did you do? What did you do!" she spat out the last part "you destroyed my life! All I knew from that day was darkness and pain! I forgot what emotion is, what companionship is I forgot how to be human!" her heart raced tears threatening to fall, she continued as she fought them back "I still don't know how to be human, I am never going to forgive you because you killed me while letting me live! I breathed and my heart beat, regardless of whether I wanted it to or not. What kind of life is it where you can't bear to even breathe? Where every heartbeat gives unimaginable pain?" his eyes were watering also as he registered the horror.

"Zoë…"

"I was trapped between two worlds, thrown into such darkness that even the night would be envious, no light at all pierced my world! Oh how I ached for something other than that treacherous black! But there was nothing at all nothing, only crimson" her eyes lit up perilously "I love the colour crimson, it was the one to light up my world the one that pulled me out of the darkness the only thing I ever knew apart from the blackness of my misery. Even if I had known anything else it's been long gone" she finished.

"Crimson…" Toshiro trailed off realising the only way she could get a colour like that to light her way was…..surely she wasn't capable of murder?

"Master is it wise to tell the enemy of your past?" Runihara questioned, Zoë looked at him disdainfully

"Where's your arm?" she pointed at the arm Rukia had taken in battle, after he had explained she merely nodded, he was thankful she had let it go…or so he thought.

"Do you want to know my name captain? My full name? You've never bothered to ask me my last name, no-one has actually you people are so stupid" she sneered at the white haired captain who stood staring at her in shock. For every piece of information, and explanation she offered up to him a part of his heart froze. He forced it to freeze he didn't want to feel the pain. It may have been cowardly but he didn't care.

"Aizen.." his head snapped upwards abruptly on hearing the name, his eyes searching her face, "my last name is Aizen, my father is Sosuke Aizen and I am his daughter" she declared.

"D…d…daughter" he struggled with the word. "How?" was all he managed.

She went on to explain that her father had kept her a secret because he wanted to secure the worlds, and ensure his victory first before he brought her forward. He didn't want her to be needlessly endangered and though she possessed extraordinary abilities he wanted her to take no part in the war. She was kept safely, adored and doted on by her loving father. He kept her happy and safe. The warm memories, the happiness and the feeling of being safe were long forgotten.

After they had captured her father, the special dimension she had been placed in had crumbled as the creator was sealed off. The place he father had adoringly and affectionately created to cater to her every whim had collapsed in on itself plunging the unsuspecting girl into an abyss of pain and darkness that she would not soon forget. That place became her world and she became as evil as it to survive.

Toshiro and Zoë looked at each other, emotions swirling incessantly in both of their minds. He looked on at her pleadingly as she strengthened her resolve against that look of his. The look that made her want to fly into his arms and have him tell her that everything was going to be all right. She would free her father and together they would take their revenge. She couldn't let her feelings for Toshiro get in the way like they were threatening to. He sensed this.

"You don't have to do this Zoë, not if you don't want to, I'll keep you safe and make sure you never have to go anything like that ever again, I promise I'll protect you…"

"Why would you do that? You barley even know me" she venomously said barley concealing her sarcasm

"Because…I love you Zoë" three words spoken with such conviction and passion. Three meagre words threatened her resolve and determination. Her vengeance and grudge. She hated that. She would fight against it no matter what.

"Empty words from a liar, how could you truly love an empty shell? A monster such as myself who destroys for colour?" she spat at him, clearly angry at his conviction "I'm not the girl you fell in love with, not the perfect being I made myself out to be, you put me on a pedestal and I fell from it" a hint of sadness could be detected in her voice, inside her heart it was paining her, the fact that she _had _fallen from his pedestal

"True love is when you put someone on a pedestal and they fall – but you're they're to catch them, and I'm here to catch you" her eyes betrayed her hope, her face betrayed her emotion. She wanted him to hold her she wanted to forget everything…but then…she remembered her father, his warm words, hiss loving embrace, the world he had created for them. They had taken that away. Her pain and anger greatly outweighed the small amount of love she was capable of.

"I'm going to prove how much of a monster I am to you" she said, despite her conviction she had to make him hate her. She unsheathed her sword which hung by her side, attached to her white cowl necked uniform with a form fitting skirt to match. Black lines down the sides of the uniform, fingerless gloves accenting her hands and armbands around her sleeveless arms. Her blade drawn, Toshiro moved not an inch, if she attacked him he didn't _want_ to live.

"Paint, shinku no ame" (crimson rain) she said melodiously, as her shikai was released. Her blade broke into a million tiny pieces, similar to senbonzakura, and then the pieces turned to liquid. Crimson liquid as dark and rich as blood. It rearranged itself into the form of a blade.

She slashed the air with her sword splattering the liquid all over Runihara who looked on in shock, his fellow arrancar betraying no emotion, not that they felt any to start with, as Toshiro looked on in surprise.

"You are of no further use to me" she said as the arrancar looked terrified and was about to begin pleading with her when she uttered his end "tatsu" (sever)

Suddenly every part of him that was covered in the liquid exploded, his abdominal area blew apart as well as part of his face. As he disappeared into ash she turned to Toshiro to explain her ability,

"my shinku no ame turns to liquid in its shikai, every place that liquid touches will explode when I utter the command 'tatsu' it doesn't matter how skilled you are or how fast you are, once my shikai splatters you your fate is sealed, 'ekitai no shi' (liquid death) I like to call it" she looked at him demonically.

He'll never bring my cold frozen heart and absent soul back….

I will bring her back, I'll save both her heart and her soul ….

Will Toshiro succeed and bring her back from the brink of self destruction or will both their hearts become frozen as pain consumes them? Will the darkness overshadow love? Whose conviction will win?

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><p><strong>well did you guys like? huh? i bet you really wanna hit me right now! what did you think of her secret? keep in mid if you kill me now the story doesn't get an end lol :D<strong>

**i would really love reviews guys! lemme know your still there! haha its lucky i'm an insomniac otherwise you guys might have never got this chapter :D**

**LOVE YOU ALL!**


	17. Friendship

**a/n: more 3am updates! yay :D as always bleach isn't mine and another intense chapter :D**

**much love to toshilover, author in the making123, tanithhh and all my lovely reviewers and readers!**

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><p>Friendship<p>

Ichigo could hear muffled talking as his eyes slowly opened and his senses returned to him somewhat. His head ached and his body felt cold and numb. Slowly but surely he regained his consciousness fully and a searing pain ran up his side as his memory returned. He lifted his head and used his arms to push himself off the ground, trying not to put too much weight on his injured leg, and glanced to his right where Rukia was unconscious but breathing

"Zoë…please I know you don't wanna do this" he heard Toshiro and looked up

"You know nothing…" a hesitant voice answered, as he found the person the voice belonged to, his eyes grew wide in shock. There was Zoë standing in mid-air wearing an arrancar uniform, but his brain didn't register this all he saw was Zoë which prompted him to shout as he struggled to his feet

"Zoë run! What the hell are you doing? You'll get hurt!..." he trailed off as he realised the situation. His eyes raked over her uniform, then her sword and then he realised what was going on.

Then in that moment of silence,

"Zoë I understand your confusion, I am not saying I understand your pain, but your dilemma is obvious, I only ask that you do not make a rash decision" a deep calm voice rang out as Toshiro and Ichigo looked around trying to find the owner of the voice.

"What would you understand about my dilemma?...Byakuya Kuchiki" Zoë was looking at the captain who had regained consciousness "I see it takes a lot to take down the great captain Kuchiki" she laughed sarcastically as Toshiro and Ichigo took in the sight of a kneeling Byakuya covered in blood and injuries, his breathing laboured.

"I was once in your position, I had to choose between someone I loved and doing what was right, in my case it was the law, in your case its justice or rather vengeance for your father." He looked at her seriously "You may think that there is only one path to walk but there is a voice in the back of your mind isn't there? A doubtful voice, a sceptical and equivocal one questioning you and robbing you of your resolution"

"There is…" she looked at him "but..." she continued before any of them could say anything, looking at the floor unable to bring herself to look at them, to look at Toshiro in particular, she continued "my sorrow condemned my fate, if I don't do this, if I can't save my father, I'll never be happy, I mean how can you be happy when a part of your life is lost?" she queried

"Life is an endless and torturous journey, lots of pieces of our life are lost along the way, what we have to remember, what keeps us going is the fact that the deeper our pain cuts into us, the more space there is for us to keep our joy, our happiness."

Everyone looked in surprise as Toshiro looked into Zoë's eyes and poured out a speech that he should not have been able to give, for it was a speech that required the giver to suffer a hard life, but nevertheless he continued as she raised her head and looked into the aqua eyes that were the source of her weakness.

"Our lives are kind of similar to hourglasses, eventually everything hits the bottom and we just have to wait till someone comes along and turns it round, we all plunge into a desperate darkness where pain and fear are similar, but different. We have to gather our courage and wait patiently, we have to endure till someone comes around and bring us back to life."

"Toshiro…" she whispered, but audibly enough for him to hear her "do you want to bring me back to life?" tears stung her eyes as she swallowed the large lump in her throat. "You never know how strong you are till it's the only way left for you…my strength isn't going to fade just because of the notion of love, I'm not that optimistic" she countered sadly.

"Who said it was an optimistic point of view?" Ichigo chimed in, he may not know much about life, but he did know something about loss, he glanced at Rukia, and about love. "A pessimistic person would have said that no matter what you do, no matter how hard you try, your pain won't go away. An optimistic person would have told you that everything will be ok and that the pain will fade. Both of them are wrong. Toshiro said he wanted to help, he never claimed to take away your pain, he wants to give you enough happiness that it'll overshadow your pain and make it a distant memory. I can tell you from experience that it works" he glanced at Rukia softly.

Zoe followed his gaze and studied his expression. That soft smile, the love in his eyes, she had seen it before. Was it in a distant memory long forgotten in the struggle of survival? No…it was…Toshiro. He had looked at her that way, she was sure that she had returned the same gaze to him.

Toshiro watched as Zoë looked on in fascination. He had decided that he would save her from the darkness threatening to swallow her heart and soul. Whatever she said he believed that the girl he had come to love was still there, if she wasn't then she wouldn't have been struggling in her conviction.

Byakuya watched as Ichigo imparted words of deep understanding and knowledge. He had never known that he understood life in such a way. He comprehended the venom of pain, the poison that is sadness and how these things can eat away at someone's soul. Usually he appeared rash and disrespectful but he really did comprehend how complicated and fragile life was. Maybe he _would_ be able to help Rukia live.

Toshiro and Zoë stared deep into one anothers eyes. Both had tears streaming down their faces despite their best efforts to keep them at bay. It was better to let them flow than waste needless energy on subduing them. Both silently praying there wouldn't be a tragic ending to this bitter situation, although they both had contrasting definitions of what would be tragic.

Finally Zoë spoke, slowly and quietly "I'm standing on a fine line, between giving up and seeing how much more I can tolerate"

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><p><strong>hope this turned out as well as i thought it did :D things are getting intense! what will happen next?<strong>

**stay tuned...and review...cookies help :P (lol jk bout the cookies)**


	18. Pain

**a/n: hey guys! so the kids went to school today so i had a bit more free time to write :D (lol my siblings i'm only 18)**

**double chapters anyone? haha enjoy! BLEACH=TITE KUBO TITE KUBO=NOT ME**

**and to my lovely reviewers yes i made ichigo serious o_O haha i always thought that even though he's kinda dumb in the anime he had that kind of speech in him ;)**

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><p><span>Pain<span>

_Dad…_

A faint memory losing its vitality played in her mind. Like an old tape, she had played it over and over again till it started to wear out.

In the memory she's smiling as her dad carries her on his back. They're going somewhere, it was so long ago she doesn't remember where, maybe a park. Wherever it was there was a large lake filled with ducks. She laughs as she feeds the ducks with him. He plays tag with her and hide and seek. They have lunch and that's the end of the memory.

It's nothing special but to her it became the reason she lived, the reason she struggled and endured. The one reason she fought her way out of the darkness.

She must have been 5 at the oldest. How she even remembered something from that long ago she doesn't even know. But as most of her memories faded away and the person she was disappeared, a handful of memories and moments remained unharmed. Forcing her to live, making her fight.

"_Do you like it Zoë?" he smiled at his daughter who was in a bad mood_

"_No it's shit" she pouted, "I want to help, lemme kick some ass dad!" she pleaded again but she knew what the answer would be._

"_What kind of dad would I be if I let someone hurt my little angel? You'll be safe here and after I've created the new world we can live in it together" Zoë still isn't satisfied with the outcome._

"_Fine…" she concedes deciding that she can always try again next time, but right now she just wants to spend some time with her dad. He won't be back for a while so she might as well take as much advantage of him as she can while he's here she thought mischievously._

_She's a daddy's girl. How could she not be? He does everything for her, hell he even created a dimension for her! And he was going to make a new world for the both of them._

He visited her as much as he could but it wasn't that often. So every time he came she was delighted. She missed him, but she never told him that. Zoe didn't like the whole 'sad little girl' routine she didn't have the patience for the 'damsel in distress' routine either. If she wanted something she fought for it. She was strong and determined. Like her father.

_The earth beneath her feet shook violently._

That day….

_The sky was being ripped apart as the sun vanished._

She wasn't going to forget anytime soon.

_The house, the trees, everything around her was either crumbling or being warped into nothing._

Zoe doubted she would ever forget it.

_She was afraid, really afraid. The ground beneath her gave away and she ran as fast as she could to find safety. But she never did. Zoe had no idea how long she had been running but eventually the disaster caught up with her. She fell through and was plunged into unimaginable darkness. She couldn't see anything or hear anything. It was as though her senses had deserted her out of fear._

"_Dad!" she screamed as she was thrown into the void that would become her prison._

_The world that had robbed her of her mind, soul and heart._

_Zoe was sure she would never laugh again._

_Sure that she would never feel emotion again._

But then she remembered something different altogether. She was supposed to have been acting, but a part of her had come alive again. While she teased him and wound him up, she smiled at how easily she could annoy him. She found it funny. His reaction to everything she did and said. He had laughed when she kicked Mayuri in the balls. She had smiled seeing him laugh.

_She remembered impatience and annoyance as she endured Rangiku's gossip. She had never been interested in that sort of thing. She was more of a 'live and let live' kind of person although she said it was a 'make no shit take no shit' approach as expected of Zoë._

"_Let's go Toshi" she had dragged him out to a clearing. The memory was vivid, every time she recalled it was as though she lived it over again._

_The picnic, the beautiful lake, the sunset._

_It made her smile all over again. It made her feel all over again._

_She remembered the next day even more vividly. _

_He had kissed her._

_So many emotions swirled through her mind at that moment that she was utterly astounded. For so long she had never felt anything, never been more than an empty shell, barely even a shadow of who she used to be. _

_But somehow he had brought her back. _

_He had made her feel…_

_Happy _

_Embarrassed _

_Confused_

_Sad_

_And other emotions whose names she had long forgotten. What use were the names of emotions when you couldn't fell them?_

_But she could feel them…now._

Toshiro Hitsugaya…

Toshiro…

Toshi…

He brought her back to life, but was she strong enough to forget her pain and actually live?

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><p><strong>what did you guys think?...it getting closer to the climax!<strong>

**as always i'd love reviews! and thnx for the previous ones! **


	19. Stay

**a/n: i know this ones short but i have two juicy last chapters that should be making an appearance soon :D**

**brought to you by me, five finger death punch and kit kat!**

**(i dont own bleach or five finger death punch but i did buy the kit kat!)**

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><p><span>Stay<span>

"I'm not telling you that we're perfect, the soul society is far from perfect and I'm the first one to admit it." Toshiro looked at Zoë seriously. "I'm not telling you that we're a utopian society where everything is nice and sweet. I just want you to know that it's not that bad of a place to live."

"Not that bad of a place…" Zoë had been unusually taciturn, as though her previous objections no longer mattered. Toshiro took this opportunity to try and bring her back to him. He wasn't going to give up. She needed to know that she wasn't the only one who felt pain.

"When I was in the academy, everyone made fun of me, because I was younger than them, smarter than them, more talented than them. I never had many friends, I still don't have many friends actually." He looked at her and cautiously stepped forward a little.

"Friends…" Zoë repeated quietly,

"I had one very good friend though, his name was Kusaka…we were very close" she looked at him curiously, she had never heard about this man before.

"We achieved the same zanpakuto powers, we both possessed Hyorinmaru…"

"How is that possible?" Zoë asked him with interest, she had never heard of this kind of phenomenon before

"I don't know, but that's not the point, the point is that….well….central 46 decided that…..one of us had to die" he finished with great difficulty. Zoe's eyes grew wide as the weight of his words hit her.

They had both lost someone important. He understood the pain of losing someone close.

"My childhood friend Hinamori, you remember her?" Zoë nodded as she recalled meeting the pretty but weak looking girl briefly. "She was severely injured once…" he bit back Aizen's name, "she almost died, it was torturous…" his eyes were glistening once again.

Zoe was almost shocked to discover that her eyes were welling up as well.

"It isn't anywhere near the things that you had to go through but pain is pain right? It never disappears fully but if you have people that will help you, then you stand a chance of making it all a distant memory."

"You're saying the pain will never go away? I'll never be truly free?" she asked him sadly as he shook his head.

"Afraid not"

"Then what exactly do I have to lose?" she looked at him

"You have a lot to lose Zoë" Byakuya spoke startling her, she turned to face him "you have friends now, companions, people who enjoy your company" he smiled slightly and nodded at Toshiro "some more than others."

Ichigo was also grinning as he put in "yeah if you don't back down now then you'll lose the chance to double date with me and Rukia" he smirked as Byakuya glared at him.

"Read the situation before you speak boy" Byakuya was slightly pissed, Ichigo however countered with a surprisingly sombre answer

"I just want Zoë to know how many people will be affected by her decision, Rukia would be devastated if you left" he addressed Zoë "she told me that you really seemed to understand her and that you're probably the best friend she's ever had"

Zoe's mind was in turmoil, her thought had become jumbled she had no idea what to do. She was utterly confused, her resolve and determination were still there but she was no longer sure what they were for.

She needed an answer but she wasn't sure she could come up with one.

She looked at Toshiro, her eyes seeking his. He returned her gaze sensing her hesitation and confusion.

"Nothing is predetermined, you have to live life on the spur of the moment otherwise things just get complicated."

"Toshiro…" she whispered

"Stay with me" he pleaded.

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><p><strong>i almost dont want to write the last 2 chapters cos then it'll be all over :(<strong>

**BUT i am planning a sequel, i have a ton of good ideas so if you guys are interested in it then please review and lemme know! **


	20. Sosuke Aizen

**A/N: hey guys...i know your pissed at me...frankly i'm pissed at me too :(**

**i cant say enough how sorry i really am! if it where up to me i never would've made you wait so long for an update...thing is i had some really bad circumstances and bad situations galore which left me unable to update ;_;**

**hopefully i'll be able to review more often now though things are looking up! :D**

**also i know i said there where only 2 more chapter but there are 3 now, cos it sets up for the sequel kinda as well! enjoy! *doesnt own bleach***

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><p><strong>Sosuke Aizen<strong>

Sosuke Aizen was evil. There was no doubt about that in anyone's mind, not even his own. He had done terrible things, hurt a lot of innocent people and deceived those who had believed in him.

However he felt no regret for his actions. What was done was done, and for a reason as well. They had all been the means to an end. Why should he regret doing everything possible to reach his goal?

Goals where important. They where the reason people lived, to achieve things, to discover things, to experience things. Without an objective there was no or little reason to bother living. If there was nothing to do, nothing desired, nothing to work for then, in his opinion, there was nothing to live for.

Sosuke Aizen had no regrets.

None but one.

A regret, a thought, a realisation that tortured his mind endlessly. The only thing that would make him seem human to others. Everyone thought he was monster incapable of feeling but that was because they didn't know the real him.

Had they known they may not have thought of him so harshly….

He lamented over his loss. But he was upset over something other than his lost war. He lamented over the reality that his daughter would have been plunged in as a result of his failure.

He was unsure what exactly had happened or would happen but he knew it could not be good. The place she resided had been of his own creation and as such would surely disappear if he was no longer able to maintain it? Had she disappeared with it as well?

No.

He didn't like to indulge that thought for long. He would skip over it as fast as possible treating it as a random thought of a wandering mind. He would surely break if he thought about that particular scenario too much.

But his little girl was tough. She was powerful. Just like him, though she hadn't achieved bankai yet with her shikai it was completely unnecessary. She would have survived. He was absolutely sure of it. There was no way she would have lost.

He resumed thinking where she could be, what she was doing, how she was.

He was worried about her. He didn't want her to be in danger, or pain, or despair.

He had worked so hard to try and ensure that she wouldn't ever be put into a situation like this but he had failed. He didn't even care how many people he hurt or used or deceived in the process.

Sosuke Aizen cared about nothing at all except his daughter.

He may have been a heartless monster to everyone else but what they failed to recognize was that, whilst extremely flawed, he was still human.

He sighed as his thoughts grew laborious and allowed his mind to delve into the far back, carefully guarded recesses that held the few precious memories of his beloved daughter.

He couldn't help but think that if she was indeed alive and well, she would fight for her father. She would avenge him and rescue him.

Then they would live their life blissfully uninterrupted together.

The soul society would fall…

At the hands of his daughter….

All for him…..

"Zoë" he whispered softly.

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><p><strong>i know short but the next two are in progress and i will make it my mission to update quickly! i promise!<strong>

**again sorry!**

**zoe: i'm gonna kill you! why didnt you update!**

**me: sorryyyyyy! but if you kill me you'll never know the end!**

**zoe: *gowls* damn**


	21. Two Frozen Hearts

**a/n: it's almost over :( this is (in my opinion) a pretty good chapter *still doesnt own bleach***

**toshilover! i LOVE you! thnx sooo much *gives big ass cookie shaped like toshiro***

**luvbunny! keep your damn schizo reviews to yourself! frankly i couldnt give a sideways shit if you leave the story! if you dont like it then dont damn well read it no need to tell me about it! i dont mind constructive critisism but you are just being a freakin bitch! stfu and stop being an asshole!**

**for everyone else enjoy! :D (and sorry bout that^^)**

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><p><strong>Two Frozen Hearts<strong>

Toshiro and Zoë stared at each other for what seemed like years, they were frozen on the spot being consumed by swirling, contrasting emotions.

Zoe had to choose between the man she loves who was in front of her, or the man she loved, a man whom had been imprisoned by the soul reapers…..a man who was gradually fading in her memories.

She had no idea what to do.

Her past would forever hold her back if she didn't fight for her father. If she stayed with Toshiro she would always have the pain of losing her father, the hurt of knowing she had betrayed the one person who loved her most. The person she called 'dad' the same one who had created a world for her, fought for her, kept her safe and had been imprisoned as he fought for their future together.

Her guilt would consume her. Her sins would destroy her. Her pain would leave no escape.

The shining white light at the end of the darkness was fading quickly.

If she stayed with him she would never be able to live with her betrayal, to both of them. She had deceived Toshiro as well. She had hurt him. She had hurt his friends, her own friends.

Even if they forgave her she would never forgive herself. Her past and her present seemed as dark as each other. She was lost, seeing no way out.

But

She couldn't leave him either though. It was adding to her turmoil, if she fought against him, if she went any farther then she would never be able to live with herself. If he was hurt or killed her heart would burst. Her despair would pull her into darkness, the knowledge that she had hurt him would forever haunt her. Even if she did manage to execute her plan without hurting him they could never be together. The hopeless longing would destroy her. It would be worse than if he were to die.

Toshiro looked on helplessly as he watched the first girl he had ever fallen in love with wrestle with her conscience. He knew that no matter what he said it wouldn't matter. She needed to make this decision on her own. If she didn't deal with this she would never be free. As much as he wanted to say something, as much as he wanted to just hold her tightly in his arms and tell her to stay, and let him take care of everything he couldn't.

It killed him to be so useless to her. He was angry that he wouldn't be able to do anything. He stood and hoped as hard as he could that she would stay with him. He didn't care that he would have to fight for her freedom, the soul society wouldn't let this go, she was dangerous and a threat, not to mention Aizen's daughter. But none of that mattered to him. All he wanted was her. As long as they were together he could bear anything.

They didn't have the most ideal love story. It was full of twisted emotions, betrayal and pain. It wouldn't be getting better any time soon either. They had a long winding road in front of them, many fights, many trials but there was one thing they were both sure of. As long as they were together they could overcome anything. They had fallen in love with each other, they had the ability to make the other smile. Even now in this dire situation all they could think about was how much they wanted the other to be safe, through betrayal, loss and pain they had become even more intertwined and bonded.

This one decision would affect them both deeply. For better or for worse.

Byakuya and Ichigo watched over the two apprehensively as the fate of their reality hinged on the decision that Zoë had to make. They had ensured that everyone's wounds where bandaged and had laid them down out of the way….just in case.

The arrancar watched their master intently. They had pledged their undying allegiance to her as her power was far beyond anything that they could comprehend. She had offered them a utopia in exchange for their power. They had willingly obliged, every arrancar knew who Sosuke Aizen was so obviously his daughter would also be as legendary as the man himself. They had resigned themselves to watching. Their master's plan had worked so far and they were sure that this was also a part of her plan. Their loyalty was deep and they had never questioned nor ever would question her. No matter what.

Zoe looked on at her friends, unconscious and wounded at her hand. They had been hurt from her plan. Each realisation, each truth chipped away at her little by little. Her army that was ready to sacrifice themselves for her. The one she had assembled to free her father, to create the world he had tried to create. Her vengeance that she had been intent on, the punishment she had intended for the soul society was being born by her as she dealt with her emotions.

Emotions, things she had thought had been lost long ago. If she had realised sooner that she could still love, laugh and be happy then maybe she could have prevented this situation. Maybe her decision would have been easier to make. Perhaps no-one had to be hurt if she had known earlier.

But

She hadn't and that was the reality. She couldn't afford to think 'what if' she had to focus on the present and choose. Choose between her past and her present. Choose between love and hate.

Tears fell from her eyes as she realised what she had to do. She had to say goodbye….

She didn't want to, she wished desperately that there was another way but knew that this was the only path to left to her. She pulled all her strength together and urged herself not to break.

Tears staining her face she looked into the wide aqua orbs she had grown to love, her voice trembled and a lump appeared in her throat as she raised her sword to the sky, the crimson liquid blade shining in the sun.

"Semetateru" she whispered.

The blade immediately dispersed in the sky and swirled around in a large circle. With a large flash of bright red it shot up straight into the sky till it couldn't be seen. All of a sudden the dangerous liquid was falling like rain upon everyone, but it was only making contact with the arrancar whose eyes grew wide.

Several screams and bangs where heard far away as the other arrancar who had taken down the squads fell. The elite arrancar realised in despair that their master had decided.

One by one they fell at her blades power.

Toshiro sighed in relief as he walked closer to her, desperately wanting to hold her.

Zoe looked at him and smiled sadly as she lowered her blade and brought it closer to herself. His eyes grew wide in realisation and as he rushed towards her, arm outstretched, she plunged the blade into herself.

As she fell to the ground he caught her. She felt his warmth envelop her and was content with dying in his arms. Toshiro however was crying begging her to hold on.

"Zoë…no….please don't…." he choked out and pulled her closer.

"I'm sorry" she whispered as her eyes fluttered closed.

If she had to live with either losing her father or losing the man she loved then she decided that she couldn't live at all. The pain of losing one of them would be too great for her to bear and she had had too much pain for this lifetime. She didn't want to live if she had to hurt or abandon either of them. So she decided not to.

She gave up her life for the two men she loved…

The men she could never live without…..

'You'll be fine Toshiro' she thought to herself as she floated away slowly.

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><p><strong>gahhhhh! dont kill me! there's still ONE MORE CHAPTER! keep reading! sorry sorry sorry!<strong>

**i'd LOVE LOVE reviews! you'll get cookies! lols yes i bribe :D **

**(but NO reviews from luvbunny! i will hunt you down! you better run rabbit!)**


	22. Revival

**a/n: the last chapter... ;_; waaah! dont worry there's still a sequel to look forward to! VOTE on the polls on my profile! **

**sadly my plans for world domination haven't prevailed yet so bleach still isn't under my control :(**

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><p><strong>Revival<strong>

1 Year Later

Toshiro stood on the little hill where he had picnicked with Zoë once. The water was shining as brilliantly as it had been that day. His mind wandered off to those memories. Her smile, her laugh, the sparkle of mischief in her eyes.

He had had a busy day today, mountains of paperwork, Rangiku's incessant whining, Byakuya being…well…Byakuya. Ichigo and Rukia where also being nauseatingly romantic, he preferred it when they fought.

But at least this way his mind was kept focused and wouldn't wander off to painful memories. He sighed and lowered his head, tears threatening to sting at the back of his eyes. He shook his head as he tried to ward of the bad memories he tried so hard to suppress. Sometimes he still had nightmares, not big ones but they were still scary.

His ears pricked up as he heard footsteps behind him. His eye twitched in annoyance, it was either Rangiku come to moan about the paperwork or lack of sake or Ichigo and Rukia looking for a secluded place to make out where Byakuya couldn't see them. Ichigo had learned the hard way not to kiss her in front Byakuya Kuchiki lord of interference.

"Hey there whatcha thinking about?" a soft voice called out causing him to relax, he felt arms wrap around him and a head nuzzle into his neck. He smiled and tilted his head backwards and rested his head on the shoulder of the girl he loved.

She managed to make his pain go away. She made him smile when he least wanted to. When they were together the memories seemed far away and faded. The nightmares disappeared, the pain was lost.

She made it all better.

"This place is really pretty" she said, he murmured in agreement enjoying the dying rays of the sun. They watched the sun set together and finally he pulled her off him and took her hand in his.

"Let's get out of here" he smiled at her, brushing a stray lock away from her face. Her radiant smile flashing back at him.

He thought back to the memories he had of Zoë bitter sweetly, her every move had made him, anxious, angry and delighted at the same time. The pain was still pricking at him though.

Ichigo and Rukia where back to fighting, their yells could be heard in the distance. He smirked and pulled her closer to him as they walked in the moonlight silently. She knew he was thinking and didn't interrupt him. She knew his memories where painful but she had to deal with him as he thought about it, it was better that way, she could always cheer him up later even if she couldn't get rid of the girl in his memories.

The one who had caused him this pain, the reason he sometimes fell silent. He was in pain over the fact that she had hurt herself, the fact that he had been useless to her. He was upset that he couldn't help her.

"Toshiro…." She squeezed his hand and placed a kiss on his cheek.

The girl in his memories….

The one in pain….

"I'm fine now, thanks to you" she smiled at him

He _had _helped her.

"Sorry Zoë" he smiled back and kissed her.

The moonlight shone down on the both of them as they enjoyed their happy ending.

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><p><strong>YAY! what did you guys think? did i make you NOT wanna kill me? haha there is still a seqeul! and VOTE on my profile for some things in the sequel :D<strong>

**i had a REALLY fun time writing this thanks to all you guys for your support and love :D your reviews made me smile and happy ;) (apart from luvbunny i'm still going rabbit hunting! *evil laugh*)**


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